She shook her head, waving the reflection of Justin’s hand over the water, which immediately parted to reveal a very expensive looking, and apparently waterproof, augmented reality projector. It was an industrial model, the kind Five Sense Theaters used to project three-dimensional images into the crowd, but just as Justin was wondering why Algonquin would have a projector in her prison, the spirit reached down to turn it on.
The machine came on with a hum, projecting a crystal clear, 3D image of an empty room into the air in front of them, almost like they were looking through a window. The whole thing happened so suddenly and unexpectedly, Justin didn’t even realize what he was looking at until a tall, beautiful, terrifying figure stepped into view, flanked by her shorter, but equally terrifying, shadow.
“Lady of the Lakes,” Bethesda said, motioning for Chelsie to stand beside her as she took in the sight of Justin, bound on the floor, and his doppelganger, smiling beside him like a cat who’d gotten into the canary coop. “I was wondering when you’d call.”
“Good,” Algonquin replied coolly. “If you were expecting my call, then we can get right to the point.” She reached down to grab the cage surrounding Justin’s face. “I have something that belongs to you,” she said, turning his head from side to side like he was an animal up for auction. “Would you like it back?”
“That depends,” the Heartstriker said, crossing her arms. “How much is it going to cost me? Justin’s value isn’t what it was.”
Justin knew she had to say that, thiswasa negotiation, but his mother’s words still hurt. Algonquin, however, seemed delighted by her apparent disinterest. “How nice it must be to have so many children that you can afford to be spendthrift with their lives!” she cackled, giving Bethesda a wide grin. “But don’t worry, the price on this one is rock bottom.”
“Then get on with it,” Bethesda snapped. “Some of us are busy.”
“Very well,” Algonquin said, releasing Justin’s head. “If you want your son back in one piece, all you have to do is say please.”
Justin jerked in alarm. That couldn’t be right. Itcouldn’tbe that easy. His mother was clearly thinking the same thing, because her scowl deepened. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” Algonquin echoed, smiling wider than ever. “One little word is all you have to say, and your whelp can scurry home only slightly worse for wear.”
She paused to let Bethesda answer. When she didn’t, the spirit shook her head. “I don’t think I need to mention that this generous offer will not be repeated,” she warned. “My Hunter gets very put out when I take his prey, even a little minnow such as this. He’s still all worked up over missing the Heartstriker who was breathing green fire all over my Pit last month. This one claims to be his target, but there’s no way a little whelp like him could possibly wield a Fang of the Heartstrikers.”
Justin held his breath, but his mother didn’t correct Algonquin. “Your Hunter is no concern of mine,” she said casually, looking down at her nails. “I only accepted this call to hear your deal. If you can’t give me a serious offer, then we have nothing more to discuss.”
“So you don’t care if Vann Jeger kills one of your knights tonight?” Algonquin said, arching an eyebrow. “He’s already got their human trapped in a curse.”
“Any knight of mine who’d risk his neck for a human deserves what he gets,” Bethesda snapped. “Are you going to bargain or not?”
“Not,” Algonquin said. “My offer is what it is. Personally, I don’t care about your baby’s life one way or the other. This is just an experiment to see if I can’t get the great Heartstriker toaskfor something instead of demanding it.”
“Then you’re in for a long wait,” Bethesda growled, her face growing serious at last. “I do not beg, spirit. Not for you, not for him,” she nodded at Justin, “not for anyone.”
Her words landed like blows on Justin’s shoulders, hammering him into the stone. He couldn’t actually believe what he was hearing until Algonquin broke it down for him.
“You’re just going to throw him away?” the spirit said, eyebrows shooting up. “That’s a little wasteful, don’t you think?”
“I don’t care what you think,” the Heartstriker said haughtily. “Justin is mine to use as I see fit.” Her voice grew condescending. “I know you can’t understand this, Algonquin, seeing how your kind can’t breed, but children exist to be useful to their parents. I learned ages ago that lowering myself to save one defeats the entire purpose of having them in the first place.”
“Is that so?” the spirit said, looking back at Justin. “Then you don’t mind if I use your son as fish food?”
“It’s none of my concern how you waste your time,” Bethesda said flippantly. “Now, unless you have something of actual value you want to discuss, this conversation is over. I have work to do.”
Algonquin shrugged and turned to Justin. “Would you like to say goodbye?”
He opened his mouth. To say what, he wasn’t sure. In the end, though, it didn’t matter. Bethesda had already hung up, cutting off the video feed with a click.
“I can’t claim that was unexpected,” Algonquin said, smiling down at him with a cold, cruel curve of his own lips. “Like all dragons, your mother has always been a selfish, wasteful creature. But I have to admit, I didn’t think she’d throw you over quitethateasily.”
Justin wanted to yell that she was wrong. That this was all a ruse and his mother would never abandon him like that. But badly as he wanted to believe that, the empty air where his mother’s image had stood taunted him with the truth. It’d finally happened, a voice that sounded very much like Julius’s whispered. She’d finally thrown him away.
“Don’t look so down,” Algonquin said, reaching over to pat him on the head. “I’m not actually going to feed you to my fish. They deserve far better.”
“Then what are you going to do?” he croaked, doing his best to sound like he didn’t care.
“I’ve already done it,” the spirit replied. “I told you at the beginning, you’re just a cog. A small, insignificant detail in a much larger machine. I knew your mother would throw you away before I called, though I have to say I’m delighted she played her part so well. You see, you’re already sold, and it would be very awkward if Bethesda turned out to actually care.”
Justin bared his teeth. “What do you mean sold?”
Algonquin’s face—which is to say, his own face—turned mocking. Instead of answering, though, she waved his hand over the water yet again, pushing it back this time to reveal a stone walkway that ran from the island to a hidden door on the far side of the cave Justin hadn’t noticed in the gloom. He was wondering if she was going to march him down it when his nose caught the unmistakable smell of sea ice. He’d only smelled it once before, but like all threats to his family, he’d memorized it instantly. But with the evidence literally in his lungs, Justin still couldn’t believe what his nose was telling him until he saw the dragoness emerge from the gloom.
